Will McHugh’s departure mark the end of his House district?

Obviously, someone will be elected to fill Rep. John McHugh’s seat. But his departure would appear to make it far easier for Democrats to carve up the district after the 2010 Census.

With McHugh in place, the 23rd was likely to be one of a couple of “last man standing” Republican districts left in New York.

Now?

We could easily see the district either gerrymandered so that a couple of Democratic strongholds are thrown into the mix, tilting the seat away from the GOP.

(Maybe a chunk of the district surrounding Albany might be thrown in?)

Or we could see it dismembered altogether. This map shows just how large a target the 23rd is geographically…